Psychology: Culture Bias, Free Will, and Determinism

Vocabulary practice covering key terminology from the lecture on culture bias, psychological research methods, and the free will vs. determinism debate.

Androgyny

Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one’s personality.

Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one's own culture, often involving the belief of superiority of one's own culture.

Cultural relativism

The idea that norms, values, ethics, and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within a specific social and cultural context.

Emic approaches

Research methods that allow researchers to be more mindful of culture bias and take steps to avoid it.

Holism

Considering all aspects of experience, including culture.

Universality

The belief that some behaviours are the same for all cultures.

Reliability

In the context of self-reported estimates, the likelihood of obtaining the same estimate on more than one occasion.

Validity

Whether a record or measurement represents a true and accurate reflection of behavior.

Free will

The notion that human beings are essentially self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions, despite biological or environmental influences.

Determinism

The view that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual's will.

Self-actualisation

The process of working towards one's potential after removing psychological barriers that prevent personal growth.

Congruence

A state where the self-concept and the ideal-self match.

Conditions of worth

Specific requirements an individual feels they need to meet in order to be loved, which can prevent them from becoming a fully functioning person.

Hard determinism

Also referred to as fatalism; the view that all behaviour has an identifiable cause and everything we think or do is dictated by internal or external forces.

Soft determinism

The view that while all behaviour has a cause, humans still have conscious mental control over the way they behave.

Biological determinism

The belief that behaviour is caused by internal biological systems like the autonomic nervous system or genetic factors.

Environmental determinism

The theory that behaviour is the result of conditioning, reinforcements, and agents of socialisation such as parents and teachers.

Psychic determinism

The belief that human behaviour is determined and directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood and biological drives or instincts.

Law of Diminished Responsibility

A legal principle applied when a defendant is assumed not to have acted in accordance with their own free will due to factors like psychological disorders.